In 2024, the federal Environmental Protection Agency attempted to address the risk of chemical leaks through a rule called the Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention. It promised a modest course correction, requiring dangerous plants to investigate past accidents, plan for climate-fueled disasters, give workers more power to halt unsafe operations, and, in some cases, switch to safer chemicals or processes. But last month, Trump’s EPA proposed gutting most of those safeguards before they ever took effect, moving to strip away requirements for safer technologies, climate and natural disaster planning, third-party safety audits, and strong worker participation in decision making. “For fenceline communities and facility workers, this rollback is a declaration that our lives are deemed acceptable sacrifices,” said Ana Parras, executive director of Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, a group that has worked in several national coalitions around chemical safety.

Syngenta announced that it would cease global production of the toxic herbicide paraquat by the end of June 2026, at a time when public awareness of paraquat’s harms is rising. Across the U.S., farmers and farmworkers have shared their stories of developing lifelong health conditions after being exposed to paraquat. Thousands of lawsuits are pending in U.S. courts, alleging Syngenta failed to warn people of paraquat’s documented links to Parkinson’s disease. And bills to ban or restrict paraquat have been introduced in at least twelve states. 
“It’s great to hear Syngenta is turning off the tap to a major source of paraquat to the U.S. But SinoChem’s corporate business model hasn’t changed,” said Judith Robinson, Executive Director of Coming Clean. “Its facilities will continue to pollute the air and water from the UK to Cancer Alley. Its pesticides are nearly all derived from fossil fuels that contribute to climate change. If you’re concerned for your health because paraquat has been sprayed on your food for years, you should also be concerned about the many other toxic herbicides that remain and could replace it.”

A new analysis and interactive map illustrates the real-world impacts of gutting regulations for the nation’s most hazardous chemical facilities, as recently proposed by the Trump Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Disaster Déjà Vu outlines six Texas facilities with recent histories of back-to-back chemical incidents – including fires, explosions, and worker injuries –  that are regulated by the EPA’s Risk Management Program (RMP). New requirements for RMP facilities, intended to make communities safer from the threat of chemical disasters, were finalized under the Biden Administration and were slated to begin going into effect this year, until President Trump’s EPA proposed rollbacks.  These rollbacks are “a capitulation to industry demands, at the expense of public safety,” concludes the analysis, co-authored by Coming Clean, the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA), and Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (T.e.j.a.s.).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed weaker regulations for the nation’s most hazardous chemical facilities, drawing opposition from community, environmental justice, labor and environmental health groups. “This rollback will cost lives,” said Michele Roberts, National Coordinator of the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform. “EJHA affiliates refuse to continue to sacrifice their families’ health and safety for the profits of corporate polluters.”

As I continue to watch in rage at the spectacle of masked, fascist paratroopers in the streets of Minneapolis, I am reminded of the famous quote by Mohandas Gandhi:"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it – always”. Guest blog from Gary Cohen, Board Member of Coming Clean and Co-founder of Health Care Without Harm.